Knock-down wheelbarrow



April 17, 1956 L. B. CARVER KNOCK-DOWN WHEELBARROW Filed May 14, 1954 INVGNTOR' L60 8. omit ea, BV

ATTORQIGY dotted. V Q Figure 2 is a section along the lines.22 of Figure t This invention relates to knock-down wheelbarrows.

It is. known. to provide a wheelbarrow inwhich the parts are bolted or screwed together sothat the assembly can be taken apart for. storing.

If is also: known to. p'rovidean elaborate and costly arrangement having part of the supporting frame hinged so that'sonieof the parts fold back upon one another thereby affording some degree of collapsibility.

Prior art examples of the type indicated are without exception heavy and unwieldy. "The ratio of net to tare weight is very poor and the means for compacting ,the bly for storage involvesextensive use of nut s,.bolts he likewhich are often mislaid when the barrow is .s m ed- Itis an object of the present invention to provide a wheelbarrow of the knock-down typewhich can beassembledand diseassembled without thens e of tools and. in which only the parts constituting the barrow frame and supports are separated out for compacting so thatthere. are no, nuts, bolts or other left over accessories to be separately cared for whenthe barrow is collapsed for storage.

It is a further object to provide a wheelbarrow ofthe kind stated in which the Weight ratio between the loaded and unloaded vehicle is high, thereby making available a barrow which is relatively easy to wheel when loaded and which when collapsed for storage is relatively compact and light in weight.

A construction typical of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Y

Figure '1 shows a perspective view of a wheelbarrow constructed in accordance with my invention. In this figure the featured sockets and the detachablyco-acting parts are shown with the detachable portions shown 1, showing a preferred method of locking handle and leg.

Figure 3 is a section along'the lines 3-3 of'Figure 1 and shows a preferred method of engaging and latching a fork arm in a forward socket.

Figure 4 is a section along the lines 4-4 of Figure 1 v and shows a preferred form of the loop forming part of a fork arm.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the preferred handle n and leg interlock seen in Figure'2.

Figure 6 is an exploded view of the barrow assembly depicted in Figure 1.

Referring now to these Figures, 1 is a receptacle which is preferably molded from a light weight material such as a suitable plastic. The forward sockets 2, 3 and the rearward twin sockets 4, 5 (and a second twin on the other rear corner of the receptacle but not visible in the drawings) may be molded integrally with the .receptacle itself. The molded assembly may alternatively be made of a light metal such as aluminum, magnesium alloy or the like or from some other light but strong plastic material.

A fork 6 having two arms 7, 8 supports a wheel 9 2,742,300 Patented Apr. 1 73, 1 9156 having preferably a removable spindle 10. Each arm of the fork includes a loop 18 and1-9and a shank 20 and 21 respectively. i a

Each forward socket is fitted with a latch having aspringy member 22 and a tooth 23 which enters through an aperture into the socket'and engages a notch 24 in V the appropriate shanlo (such as 20, 21). The tooth 23 and notch 24 are so contoured that when a shank 2Q enters'a socket 2 (or 3) the. tooth snaps into engagement with the notch and holds the fork arm firmly. The spring tensionof .22 should be sufficient to keep the tooth 23' normally engaged but not stitfenough to resist being drawn backward readily to release the; shank when it is desired to de-couple' the assembl.

The socket 2 (or 3) contains a recess 25' which co-operates with a portion of the loop 18 to provide a stay which prevents side twist of 'the fork. A similar construction characterizes the other side including parts 19 and 3. By providing these loops 18, 19- and rece'ssing them or a portion of them in the socket bulge at; the side of the barro-wreceptacle, a very simple latch such as that depicted in Figure 3 is all that is necessary to afford aread-' ily detachable but operatively rigid and strong coupling between the barrow receptacle and "its wheel fork. To give added strength to this combinati'enrthe loop may include a web 15 bridging its-arch;

If itshould be desired to remove the wheel 9 so as to achieve added compactness of the knock-down state, the spindle 10 may be detachably fitted in the bearings 26 and secured in known manner. This may be. effected by the use of a set screw threadedly engaged in one orthe other of thebearings 26 and tighteneda-gainst the spindle A thumb-set screwis shown at 10 in Fig. l

Turning now to; the rear endof the barrow, the;handle 12 and support leg 11' each enter respective aperturesin twin sockets 5, 4. These sockets are positioned roughly at right angles, but may be tipped at a small angle to provide rake for the leg and/or the handle. The two sockets intersect and have a common aperture portion in which the leg and handle intersect in offset relation when in operative attitude. The handle shank portion includles an eccentric groove 17 and the end portion of leg 11 includes a concentric groove 16.

The handle bar 12 is preferably bell-cranked as at 27 i so as to lower the centre of gravity of the barrow-load with respect to the handle and also to facilitate the interlock of the handle and leg in the twin socket in this wise: the core of the eccentric groove 17 is offset away from the direction of the crank so that when the handle is engaged with the crank on its side, the core or'eccentric is able to clear the maximum diameter of the leg 11 when it enters socket 4 and the two members overlap in the common aperture: when the handle is cranked upward to its normal operative position as seen in Figure 1, the eccentric core of 17 turns into the groove 16 and locks the two members firmly together and to the barrow receptacle.

To dis-assemble the handle and leg it is merely necessary to crank the handle oversideways to open the lock and i the two members can then be withdrawn from. their its load tend to keep the handle and the leg in locked attitude. If the handle cranks are set to lock when they are just a little outward of the vertical as shown in Figure 2, the tendency for the lock to be driven home hard is increased as soon as the barrow is lifted.

providing a very light and compact package for storing.

Although of general application wherever Wheelbarrows are used, the invention is of particular value to contractors who require to stock large numbers of them in a. vehicle for transport from one job to another, where they must then be put quickly into service by the hands of unskilled people. The'fact that the barrow ofthis invention can be assembled or knocked down in a matter of seconds either way and with no bolts, nuts or other leftovers to be bagged and stored, sorted out and fitted again, makes this invention very attractive indeed in any appropriate field of utility.

It will be evident that the receptacle could be made from sheet metal and the bosses containing the sockets could be Welded or brazed thereto. Such is not a recommended technique but lies within the spirit of the invention in its broad aspect.

Various modifications can be made in shape and size of components without departing from the spirit of my teachings and all such are to be regarded as lying within the ambit of the appended claims. 7

What is claimedis;

1. In a knock-down wheelbarrow, a wheeled receptacle forming a body member, jointly located socket elements at each side of said wheeled receptacle, each including a handle-receiving socket and a leg-receiving socket, said sockets being transversely disposed to intercept each other and each socket sharing a portion of its aperture with the other, a handle having a shank slidably engaged in said handle receiving socket, a leg having a shank slidably engaged in said leg-receiving socket, and means for detachably locking the handle and the leg in their sockets, said means comprising an eccentrically cored groove on the shank portion of said handle, and a concentric groove on the shank portion of said leg, the core of said eccentrically cored groove being disposed in said concentric groove in interlocking relation when the handle and the leg are in operative position.

2. In a knock-down Wheelbarrow, a Wheeled receptacle forming a body member, jointly located socket elements at each side of said Wheeled receptacle, each including a handle-receiving socket and a leg-receiving socket, said sockets being transversely disposed to intercept .each other and each socket sharing a portionof its aperture with the other, a handle having a shank slidably engaged in said handle receiving socket, a leg having a shank slidably engaged in said leg-receiving socket, and means for detachably locking the handle and the leg in their sockets, said means comprising an eccentrically cored groove on the shank portion of said handle, a concentric groove on the shank portion of said leg, the core of said eccentrically cored groove being disposed in said concentric groove in interlocking relation when the handle and the leg are in operative position, and a bell-crank bend fashioned on the handle outwardly of said handle receiving socket, the angular relation of the bend to the eccentricity of said core being such that said interlocking relation is established when the crank is turned to an upright position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

